BJP to poach from rivals

Mumbai: With just a year left for the Assembly elections and only a few months for the Lok Sabha polls, there is buzz that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may start poaching leaders from Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) very soon. In a recent interaction with mediapersons, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis himself indicated this.

Sources said that all these happenings will start after Diwali and by January, the BJP will be ready for the Assembly elections.  

Recently Mr Fadnavis met mediapersons on the eve of the completion of his fourth year in office. When he was confronted with the question of leaders from his own party having jumped ship, he gave some indications. He reportedly said that people who were going to the Congress were originally from the Congress itself. “But, when I will start getting their big leaders on our side, this picture will change completely,” Mr Fadnavis told mediapersons.

Interestingly, this indication comes after Mr Fadnavis meeting or sharing a dais with Congress and NCP bigwigs. Recently, NCP’s Beed strongman Jaydatta Kshirsagar was seen at Varsha with Mr Fadnavis. The leader is sulking as his leadership has given more importance to Opposition leader Dhananjay Munde in Beed.

“There are almost six to seven such big leaders in almost every region. They are from Congress and NCP itself. All are in touch with our party and particularly Devendraji. In the next two months, the picture will be clear,” said a senior BJP
minister.

Sources believe that the induction of these leaders into the BJP will be done with an eye on the Assembly elections. “To keep the current 122 tally in the Assembly, you need strong leaders from different districts. So, this will be the main criterion for the BJP’s doors to them,” said the minister.